The present invention relates to a method of packing a container with a desired kind of powder and an apparatus for the same. The present invention is applicable not only to toner used in a copier, printer or similar electrophotographic image forming apparatus, but also to other various kinds of powder including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and foods.
A copier, for example, belonging to a family of electrophotographic image forming apparatuses includes a developing unit for developing a latent image formed on a photoconductive element with toner. A toner container packed with fresh toner is mounted to the developing unit for replenishing the toner to the developing unit. The prerequisite with the toner container is that it be densely and uniformly packed with the toner. While toner packing methods are disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Nos. 8-198203 and 7-125702, they have some problems left unsolved, as will be described specifically later.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a powder packing method capable of packing a container with powder densely and uniformly in a short period of time and enhancing accurate packing, and an apparatus for the same.
In accordance with the present invention, a method of packing a container including a powder inlet and an air outlet with powder includes the steps of connecting the powder out let of a hopper capable of storing the powder to the powder inlet, attaching a suction pipe to the air outlet, and then introducing the powder stored in the hopper into the container, and discharging air existing between the particles of the powder introduced into the container via the suction pipe to which vacuum is fed. The end portion of the suction pipe to be positioned at least in the container after the attachment to the container and constituting an air separating portion is implemented by a laminate of at least two filters each having a particular mesh size.
Also, in accordance with the present invention, an apparatus for packing a container including a powder inlet and an air outlet with powder includes a hopper connectable to the powder inlet and capable of storing the powder, and a suction pipe attachable to the air outlet. The end portion of the suction pipe to be positioned at least in the container after the attachment to the container and constituting an air separating portion is implemented by a laminate of at least two filters each having a particular mesh size.